Chris Cotton
Professor
Jarislowsky-Deutsch Chair in Economic and Financial Policy
Director, John Deutsch Institute
Education
B.A. Michigan State University; M.A. Cornell University; Ph.D. Cornell University
Organization
Queen's University
Office
Dunning Hall 230
Email
cc159@queensu.ca
Personal URL
http://www.christophercotton.ca/
Research Interests
Public economics and policymaking
Education and human capital
Public health
Evidence-based funding and policymaking
Information economics
Experimental economics
Meta-science (the science of research and publishing)

View Dr. Cotton's CV

Christopher Cotton is a Professor of Economics at Queen's University where he holds the Jarislowsky-Deutsch Chair in Economic & Financial Policy. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Department of Economics and is a faculty member for the CPIA professional program and the MPA and PMPA programs within the Queen's School of Policy Studies, He is also a cross-appointed member of the Translational Medicine Graduate Faculty in the Queen's School of Medicine, where he helps supervise students working at the intersection of health and economics.

Prof. Cotton focuses on applying rigorous research methods from economics to gain insights into pressing public policy questions. He has also worked extensively on the evaluation of education and health policies and international development projects, and is a leading international expert on on the impact of public health crises (e.g., COVID-19) and related policies on businesses and the economy; program and policy evaluation; and the impact of science and evidence on funding, policy- and decision-making. His research has been published in top scientific journals, such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Labor Economics, and Management Science, and he has included seminal papers on several topics. 

Much of Prof. Cotton's work encourages the incorporation of better evidence into policy decisions. He serves as the Director of the John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI). He is also a member of the board of directors and research advisor at Limestone Analytics, through which he regularly advises and leads evaluations on behalf of governments and NGOs.

He is also one of the lead developers behind the new CPIA program at Queen’s, which teaches professionals across firms, governments, and organizations how to effectively incorporate evidence and evaluation into the design, financing, and assessment of their projects. He has been involved with the design and evaluation of several major development projects involving nutrition and education, including work for the US and UK governments around the world. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Cotton's research and policy efforts worked to better understand the economic and social costs of the pandemic. He was appointed to the Royal Society of Canada Covid-19 working group on Economic Recovery and Global Canada's Covid Strategic Choices Group. He was also the economic modeling lead on a major Canada Digital Technology Supercluster grant, which brought together economic and epidemiological models to build capacity for evaluating future outbreaks and pandemics. He was the co-lead for a major grant by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to establish the One Society Network of emerging infectious disease modeling researchers across Canada working to study the broader impacts of COVID-19 on the economy and society and served as co-Director of the OSN from 2021 through 2024.  

His research has received grant funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Tri-Council New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), Canada's Digital Technology Supercluster, the Spencer Foundation, and others. Prof. Cotton is also an enthusiastic teacher and adviser. He advises many Ph.D. and M.A. students and won the department's award for undergraduate teaching.  

Selected Publications

Articles in leading journals (top 5% based on Article Impact metrics):

Articles in other journals:

Books: 

  • C. Cotton, ed., Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 on Canada. The State of the Federation book series, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2025 (forthcoming).  

Chapters and other reviewed articles: 

  • C. Cotton (2025), The Broad Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, Chapter 1, McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming.

  • C. Cotton (2025), Assessing the Impacts of COVID-19 on Canadian Economy and Businesses, Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, Chapter 2, McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming.

  • N. Afodjo, C. Cotton, M. Jones, and L. Scholle-Cotton (2025), The Economics of COVID-19 and Educational Attainment in Canada, in Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, Chapter 6, McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming.

  • B. Mutic and C. Cotton (2025), COVID-19's Other Impacts: Technology, Homelessness, Mental Health, and Addiction, in Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, Chapter 13, McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming.

  • W. L. Adamowicz, R. Boadway, D. Breznitz, C. S. Cotton, S. Elgie, E. Forget, R. Gold, E. Jones, F. Lang, N. de Marcellis-Warin, C. McCabe, S. Peacock, and L. Tedds (2025), Renewing the Social Contract and Fostering Innovation to Build a Stronger Post-COVID Economy, in Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, Chapter 14, McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming.

  • M. A. Lewis, P. Brown, C. Colijn, C. Cotton, L. Cowen, T. Day, R. Deardon, D. J. D. Earn, D. Haskell, J. Heffernan, P. Leighton, K. Murty, S. Otto, E. Rafferty, C. Hughes Tuohy, J. Wu, H. Zhu (2025), Charting a Future for Emerging Infectious Disease Modelling in Canada: A Call to Maintain Capacity, in Lasting Disruption: Health, Economic, and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Canada, Chapter 15, McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming.

  • C. McCabe, V. Adamowicz, R. Boadway, D. Breznitz, N. de Marcellis-Warin, S. Elgie, E. Forget, R. Gold, E. Jones, F. Lange, S. Peacock, and L. Tedds (2020), Renewing the social contract: Economic recovery in Canada from COVID-19, An RSC Policy Briefing, Royal Society of Canada COVID-19 Task Force

  • C. Cotton, B. Kashi, J. MacKinnon, J. Makuwira, A. Nordstrom, L. Wallace, and B. Wong, Cost-Benefit Analysis of Interventions to Improve Primary Education Quality in Malawi, The Malawi Priorities Project, Copenhagen Consensus Center, 2020

    C. Cotton, N. Kanyongolo, B. Kashi, J. MacKinnon, A. Nordstrom, L. Wallace, and B. Wong, Cost-Benefit Analysis of Interventions to Decrease Secondary Education Dropout Rates in Malawi, The Malawi Priorities Project, Copenhagen Consensus Center, 2020

Select Expert Reports

  • C. Cotton (2025). Expert report on the impact of government policy on construction materials prices, prepared at the request of Dentons Canada LLC

  • C. Cotton (2024). Expert opinion on COVID-19 pandemic and policy impacts on Alberta businesses, prepared for Alberta Justice and the Government of Alberta

  • C. Cotton, A. Nordstrom, T. Pracek, and Z. Robb (2024). Six County Meta-Analysis and Cost Effectiveness Assessment of the THRIVE Livelihoods Program, World Vision US

  • S. Afra and C. Cotton (2024). Cost-benefit analysis of the Learning Roots early childhood education program, World Vision Canada

  • C. Cotton (2023). Approaches to the cost-benefit analysis of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs, internal assessment for U.S. Government, Millennium Challenge Corporation

  • R. Bahn, C. Cotton, B. Kashi, and N. Muntasir (2023). Evidence-based decision-making at World Vision Canada, internal assessment for World Vision Canada

  • Z. Robb, F. Tremblay, and C. Cotton (2023). Cost-benefit analysis of the Savings for Transformation (S4T) savings group program, World Vision Canada

  • K. Safar and C. Cotton (2023). Cost-benefit analysis of Positive Parenting training, World Vision Canada

  • H. Fox and C. Cotton (2023). Cost-benefit analysis of Unlock Literacy early-grade education program, World Vision Canada

  • C. Cotton, B. Crowley, and H. Lloyd-Ellis (2021). The Costs of Alternative Vaccination and Reopening Policies in Alberta, prepared for the Government of Alberta and the Institute for Health Economics

  • S. Carillo, C. Cotton, S. Hamilton, B. Kashi, and Z. Robb (2021). The Return on Healthy School Feeding: Impacts, Considerations, and Design Factors, World Health Organization

  • C. Cotton, J. MacKinnon, A. Nordstrom, Z. Robb, and L. Wallace (2021). Value for Money Analysis of the IGATE-T Girls’ Education Challenge project in Zimbabwe, UK Government (FCDO) and World Vision UK

  • C. Cotton, A. Nordstrom, Z. Robb, R. Sampson, S. Veenstra, and L. Wallace (2021). IGATE-T Community Based Education Study in Zimbabwe, World Vision UK

  • H. Britt, C. Cotton, J. MacKinnon, A. Nordstrom, Z. Robb, S. Veenstra, and L. Wallace (2021). Endline Evaluation of the IGATE-T Girls' Education Challenge project in Zimbabwe, UK Government (FCDO) and World Vision UK

  • C. Cotton, B. Crowley, B. Kashi, H. Lloyd-Ellis, and F. Tremblay (2020). Will the Canadian Shield Lockdown Policy Save Jobs in Ontario? Limestone Analytics and Global Canada

  • R. Greenhill, … C. Cotton, et al. (2020). Building the Canadian Shield: A New Strategy to Protect Canadians from COVID and from the fight against COVID, A Policy Proposal, COVID Strategic Choices Group, Global Canada

  • C. Cotton, B. Crowley, C. Farquharson, H. Lloyd-Ellis, and L. Rawling (2020). Determinants of community economic resilience to COVID-19 in Canada, Eastern Ontario Leadership Council

  • C. Brady, C. Cotton, B. Crowley, S. Davis, C. Farquharson, B. Kashi, H. Lloyd-Ellis, and F. Tremblay (2020). Malawi in 2025: Emerging from Crisis? A Scenario Planning and Economic Analysis of Malawi’s Economy, Malawi National Planning Commission

  • C. Cotton, S. Davis, and A. Nordstrom (2019). Midline Evaluation of the IGATE-T Girls' Education Challenge project in Zimbabwe, UK DFID and World Vision UK

  • C. Cotton, Z. Kurzawa and F. Tremblay (2019), Impact Evaluation of the Youth Ready project in El Salvador and Honduras, World Vision Canada

  • C. Cotton, S. Davis, B. Kashi, and Z. Kurzawa (2019). Impact Bond Feasibility Study for addressing nutrition and stunting in Lesotho, prepared for World Vision International and UNICEF

  • C. Cotton (2018). Opinion on Campaign Finance Policy, prepared for Ministry of Attorney General, Government of British Columbia

  • C. Cotton, A. Nordstrom, J. Mackinnon, and B. Kashi (2018). Baseline Evaluation of the IGATE-T Girls' Education Challenge project in Zimbabwe, UK Government (DFID) and World Vision UK

  • Z. Kurzawa, C. Cotton, and N. Mazurkewic (2018). Evaluation of NI’s prenatal supplement adherence program in Bangladesh, prepared for Nutrition International

  • C. Cotton, B. Kashi, and J. Nanowski (2017). Independent re-evaluation of the IGATE Girls’ Education Challenge program in rural Zimbabwe, prepared for World Vision Canada

Current & Upcoming Teaching